Katie Couric's daytime talk show Katie premiered Monday afternoon as she commenced her bid to become the heir to Oprah's vacant throne.

It's been a year since Oprah ended her quarter-century daytime hosting gig, and ever since, the afternoon time slot has presented potential ratings gold in a slot that was once beyond competition.

Couric began her bid to claim the talk show throne with a dream sequence, turning to her "TV husband" Matt Lauer, who lay in a twin-sized bed a few feet away from hers, thinking her 20-year career had been nothing but a dream.

With Lauer, Couric hosted NBC's Today show with an intelligent, warm and welcoming attitude that carried viewers through 15 years of morning news and earned her the title of "America's sweetheart" along the way. She left Today and NBC in 2006 to become the only female solo news anchor in the country at the CBS Evening News.

But Couric failed to live up to the high ratings expectations at CBS, and left after five years to join ABC as a special correspondent. ABC executives will be hoping her morning-news mastered tone will translate in the post-Oprah daytime TV landscape.

Couric's show echoes Oprah's successful balance of interviews with celebrities, newsmakers and people affected by issues like dating violence. The show will be aided further by two Oprah alumni as producer and director.

Jessica Simpson was the show's first guest and she spoke with Couric about her baby – and new her deal with Weight Watchers. Sheryl Crow, who wrote the show's theme song, also appeared on Monday's program and explained how she came up with a song about her "perfect" friend – Katie Couric – as well as discussing her recent brain tumor diagnosis.

The show is making a clear attempt to court a younger audience, with Couric's production staff integrating bloggers into the live audience and pushing a strong social media presence that piggybacks on Couric's 500,000 Twitter followers.

The programme showcased tweets about the show, and a new Twitter account rounded out the episode, writing:

"They say you never forget your first time!" - @katiecouric on the Katie premiere!

In a slightly more misguided attempt to appeal to younger audience members, her show will also feature a recurring segment called Yolo – a term popularized by Drake's The Motto meaning you only live once – where Couric and guests will cross items off their bucket list.

ABC and Couric's attempt to become the leaders of daytime chat will face competition from a batch of new talk shows hosted by a mix of established television personalities.

Host Ricki Lake with her audience during the first day of taping for her new daytime talk show. Photograph: Barry J. Holmes/AP

Ricki Lake also returned to television on Monday, with the Fox premiere of her new Ricki Lake Show. Her eponymous tabloid talk show ended in 2004, and the same audience figures that sustained her during her 11-year career could challenge Couric's television return.

Monday is also the premiere of CBS's The Jeff Probst Show – hosted by the popular Survivor host. Probst's show is set to capitalize on normal people whose unique endeavors have earned them a certain brand of celebrity – 80-year-olds talking about sex, a couple who built the largest house in the US during the recession, and Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame.

Comedian Steve Harvey premiered his talk show Steve Harvey on NBC last week, and will be drawing on the audience of his top-rated radio show and from his hosting gig on game show Family Feud. Harvey lends his insights to his guests to deal with issues with adult children who won't move out of the house, over-protective parents and people who ends their relationships via text.

Harvey shared his well wishes with Couric on Twitter a couple hours before her show's premiere: